AMP Messenger

by Stephen Arseneault

  Chapter 10

  _______________________

  The following day a ship arrived in the blue star's system. It took up a position beside the gas giant as indicated in the contract description. Frig took a moment from his decryption task to perform a deep scan of the newly arrived vessel. His reaction to the scan told of his confusion.

  “Sir, this cannot be correct. The scan is showing the ship to be a Gambit destroyer named the Galis. I remember the Galis, sir. She was freshly commissioned before the Grid's arrival into our system. I had been told that raiders had invaded our world and that all ships had been destroyed. The Milgari supposedly came to our rescue, but I have always suspected it was the Milgari who were the raiders all along. I am baffled by this ship's existence... and I am curious to know why it is here.”

  Four hours remained until our designated meeting time.

  I replied, “I'm curious to know who they are too. Looks like, from the scarring on her hull, the Galis has seen some action. I say we take the time to finish your decryption before we drop that data off. Could be useful to the cause.”

  Frig agreed, returning his efforts to the task at hand. The rendezvous time was soon upon us.

  “How much longer do you think you will need on that decrypt? We are ten minutes from delivery time if we go by the contract. I'm good with a delay if you need it.”

  Frig continued to tap away at the keys on his console without looking up. “I'm on the last layer of sixty as we speak, sir. I would estimate we should be done within two hours. We have a large data store on the ship, but I am becoming concerned the crystalline structure of this simulated gem may hold up to ten times what we have available. If so, we may need extra time to decide what we would like to save.”

  I began to pull up the details of the Gambit destroyer from the ship's archives. Since it had been commissioned while we were on friendly terms with the Gambit, the data had been filed in the ship identification storage unit, along with the standard data on more than 136,000 other military vessels.

  I looked over the information. “You take all the time you need. If they get antsy and decide to leave, we can always signal or follow them. I'd like to know what's in that data.”

  Two hours passed before Frig raised his hands. “We are through. I'll have a summary of the data sections ready in a few minutes. From there, we can pick and choose what we believe to be of the highest importance.

  “I have been contemplating additional ways to store this information, sir. It may be possible to transfer the data to another crystal. I took the time to scan the asteroid we have been sitting on, and it is high in quartz content. I believe I have located a sufficiently large crystal to replicate the data into, but it will require several more hours of our time, and the use of our ion laser, which in turn may give away our position.”

  Again, Frig had found a way to accomplish that which seemed impossible.

  I hummed. “What if I can get this rock twisted around so we stay on the other side of it from the Galis? Would you be able to use the laser without detection?”

  Frig thought for a moment. “I believe I would, sir. Please make that happen as I continue to break down the information.”

  I began the task of pumping the Swift's fuel from one wing tank to the other. I hoped the slight inertial force of the fuel moving would be enough to set the asteroid into a slow spin. If it worked, I would pump the fuel in reverse to bring the spin to a halt once again when the asteroid was in the optimum position. It was a simple solution that had every reason to work. I smiled and nodded to myself as I leaned back in my chair. I, too, had accomplished the impossible.

  Our matrix probe continued to monitor the Gambit ship as the hours ticked by. We were four hours overdue when the probe detected an fluctuation in the Galis's engines. “Uh, Frig, looks like they are getting ready to leave. What's your status on that data burn?”

  Frig scanned his console display. “We are 82 percent complete. We will need another eighteen minutes for the remaining transfer, sir. If you can find a way, get them to stay.”

  The Gambit vessel began to move, turning in the direction from which it had come. “We're out of time. I can buy us about two minutes of time by making contact now. If they jump to light speed before that, I don't know if we can catch up without an exact trajectory. I'm sure we are faster, but we have to be aimed in the same direction to catch them. Tell me what to do.”

  Frig began to type on his keyboard with a flurry of taps. “I need four minutes minimum, sir. At that point I can store the remaining data in the ship's store. If we have to stop before then, some data will be lost. Do what you can to buy as much time as you can, sir. I will do my best complete the task.”

  As our sensors detected the ion emissions of a full burn, I sent a signal to the Galis. We were there. Several seconds later the ship changed direction toward our location. As I had predicted, she rounded the asteroid in just under two minutes. Frig cut his ion laser transfer and I lifted the Swift slowly from our hiding place.

  We were given a visual signal to approach and land in a docking bay on the side of the Galis. I confirmed with a flash of my own landing lights and proceeded toward the dock. We touched down on the deck and I opened the rear hatch. A Gambit colonel was standing in front of me, waiting for the package.

  “Mr. Grange, on behalf of the Free Alliance of Worlds, I thank you for your assistance. I believe you have something for us?”

  The colonel was looking past me into the hold of the Swift.

  “Is there something else I can help you with, Colonel?”

  I turned, expecting to see Frig standing behind me. He had gone into the bunk room.

  “Ah, let me get you that package, Colonel, so we can get out of your hair.” I walked back, opened the door to the bunk room, and stepped in. “Hey, what are you hiding from? That's your people out there. I would think you would want to at least acknowledge them.”

  Frig looked at me with trepidation in his eyes. “Sir, I would like to greet them. But I have been a betrayer of my people for the past decade. It was our ranks who opened the doors for the Milgari slaughter of our citizens. I did not know it at the time, but the data in that crystal confirmed it. I am a traitor, and do not deserve to be looked upon.”

  The colonel called out for his package as I looked down at my broken friend. “I'll have it in a moment, Colonel! Be right out! Frig, the one thing you have not taken into account is the fact that you have come full circle. Everything you do from here on out will be for your people and not against. You are a soldier for the cause now. It's now time to stand up and be counted with the right side.”

  I turned from the bunk room and made my way to the package. It was soon in the hands of a thankful colonel. As I turned back toward the room, alarms began to sound on the Galis’s docking bay. I ran back to my proximity screen to see a Milgari cruiser closing fast. The Galis shuddered as its engine went to full.

  Frig was soon at his console. “Sir, that cruiser is far more powerful than the Galis. Our shields are solid. Might I suggest we try to draw fire to give the Galis time to escape?”

  I had no desire to take hits from a Milgari cruiser, but Frig was right: our shielding might just give the Galis time to flee. Only because of us were they still in the system.

  I replied, “OK, bring her online and let's punch out of here and see what she can handle.”

  I pushed the button for the external mic. “This is the Swift. We're gonna see if we can distract our friends out there. Best of luck to you. We're fighting the same battle.”

  We lifted off. With a precision move, Frig had us out of the bay as the blast doors began to close. We took an immediate hard turn directly at the Milgari cruiser, bringing our ion cannon online. As we approached, the Milgari launched a hundred fighters. They were fast, nearly as fast as the Swift, but we soon found their armor to be weak.

  I yelled as I fired our cannon. “Boom, baby! Boom! These things are just target practice. We've take
n sixteen strikes from their bolt weapons. That active armor and charge dissipater are awesome. We could fight these things all day!”

  Frig pulled hard left on the stick as an ion cannon fired in our direction. The defense sensors popped up a 37 percent hit with zero damage.

  I pulled up the targeting grid and let fly an ion pulse from our cannon. I could just make out the visual details of debris leaving the side of the Milgari cruiser as the cannon charge impacted her hull. I continued to fire as Frig flew us through the maze of fighters. The cruiser soon turned its sights on the Galis.

  With a single shot, the Galis's port engine began to spew ions to the side. Her speed began to slow. Frig flew in close to the cruiser as I let out a hail of ion cannon bursts, ripping a number of holes in the Milgari's hull. But the damage was little more than a scratch to the exterior of the much-larger ship. The cruiser continued to close on the crippled Gambit destroyer.

  A second direct hit took the Galis's port engine completely offline. They would not be making light speed. I had the sudden realization there was no escape for the Galis. As a sign of valiant defiance, the ship's captain turned back toward the cruiser for a head-on encounter. The first blast from the Milgari ship only blackened the thicker hull plating of the Galis's forward decks.

  Frig flew us within range of the cruiser's starboard cannon. I fired repeated pulses into the panels surrounding the turret and was rewarded with a number of minor explosions. The starboard turret had lost its ability to maneuver. The Milgari captain adjusted his course for direct volleys, firing two more bolts into the destroyer. The Galis shuddered as her forward plates buckled under the powerful charges.

  Frig again circled in close to the cruiser as I unleashed another hail of bursts, this time taking the starboard cannon offline. But the Milgari had come to claim a prize, a prize that now maneuvered helplessly toward them. A final charge from the Milgari cruiser’s port cannon ripped through the Galis from fore to aft. All decks were soon ablaze. An immense fireball could be seen reflecting off the Milgari cruiser as the hydrogen tanks aboard the Galis ruptured.

  I yelled, “Frig, get us out of here before they get a shot at us with that other cannon! Our fight is over.”

  Frig countered: “I would like one more pass at them, sir. The Milgari captains are an arrogant lot. I am betting the bridge is right up there on top-forward where the captain can sit and watch the action. Prepare your cannon for one more series of rounds, sir. I will get you as close as I can.”

  The Swift made a hard bank, bringing us in upside down to the supposed Milgari bridge. I managed five ion streams, all aimed at a large forward view-port. The bolts ripped through the surrounding structure and I could see explosions going off within her. Frig continued the roll as he pushed the Swift's throttle to full. I took one final look back at the disintegrating hull of the Galis. The cruiser finished its mission with a final shot.

  The Milgari were quick to change direction in pursuit of their new foe. The first charge from their cannon struck the Swift dead on from behind. Our defensive sensors shot to 96 percent, with 2 percent damage reported. As our speed increased and we continued to move away, the effectiveness of their weapon was drastically reduced. We were soon past light speed and out of range.

  I took a deep breath. “Wow. That was intense. I was not expecting to get caught up in something like that. Wish we could've done more for the Galis. They would've been gone if we hadn't dragged our feet.”

  Frig lifted his head and turned toward me. “Perhaps there is something we can do. Before they turned to fight, the colonel sent us an encrypted message. I'm working on decoding it now. I suggest we return to the asteroid and retrieve that crystal. The data on it might be somehow useful to us.”

  I took the controls and turned the Swift back toward the asteroid, slowing before our arrival to scan for the Milgari cruiser. It had left the area.

  As we set down on the asteroid, Frig turned with news. “Sir, the colonel sent out the location of their next rendezvous point. A second Gambit ship will be waiting there for fourteen hours. We can make it in eight, but we need to retrieve that crystal from the asteroid.”

  The thought of a second Gambit ship had Frig excited, if a Gambit could be excited. A small repair bot was sent to the asteroid surface. The quartz crystal was retrieved, with all the data it contained. With the new destination entered into the Swift's nav computer, we lifted off and pushed the throttle full. In eight hours we would rendezvous with a second Gambit ship.

  As we flew, Frig broke down. “I can't believe some of my people are still alive. For a decade, I believed the other spies on the Grid to be the last of us.”

  I replied, “We all deserve a second chance. With what we've done for the admiral, your sins have already been paid for.”

  When we arrived, a much-older Gambit cruiser was waiting. Frig forwarded the encoded message we had received from the Galis. We were invited aboard and the captain came to greet us personally.

  “Mr. Grange, I am pleased to see you, but at the same time greatly saddened. Colonel Jeamus was a true patriot. He overthrew the traitorous Captain Renaud only hours before... well, before the Galis's destruction.

  “He worked his way up through the Milgari/Gambit corps over the last eleven years. His death and the loss of the Galis and her crew are a heavy blow to us. The data you carried to him—were you able to capture the transmission he blasted out? We are not sure what information it contained, but it is possibly information that could be used to defend your Grid.”

  Frig stepped from the bunk room behind me. “Captain Sumrue, my name is Bartel Helbris. For many years I have gone by the alias of Frigbimifier. I would like to turn myself over to you as a traitor to all of Gambrel. I am one of the original Merfet spies. I have been doing the Milgari’s bidding on the Grid for the past decade. I will humbly accept whatever punishment you choose for my transgressions.”

  The captain held his hand up to rub his chin. He then looked hard at Frig before responding.

  “Son, you were not the only one they duped. We've been coming across Merfet spies for years. The galaxy is littered with them. You are one of tens of thousands that were cajoled and lied to, brainwashed into the actions you have taken. The fact that you are confessing here to me today tells me that you have seen the light. You now know who the true evil in the galaxy is.

  “Jeamus sent you the entire recording of the battle just before the Galis was destroyed. You fought well, a fight that any Gambit would be proud of. But as you say, I am going to give you the punishment you are deserving of. I hereby commission you as an officer of the Free Alliance. Your punishment will be to serve the FA with all the character and heart you just displayed out there against that cruiser. We need soldiers, Bartel, and as far as I can tell, you are fighting for the right side now, so keep it up.”

  I could see Frig’s eyes tearing up. He had never been one to show much emotion. I wasn’t always sure he was capable of it. He slowly raised his fist to underneath his chin. The captain followed with the same in response.

  Frig said, “Captain, we have your data. It is partially held in the Swift's store, with the bulk of it contained in this quartz crystal. We made a copy before delivering it to the Galis. It would have otherwise been lost. If you show me to your engineering lab, I can assist in the data retrieval.”

  Frig headed off with another engineer. The captain invited me to the officer’s mess for a bite to eat. He began to pick my brain for information on the war readiness of the Grid.

  “Tell me of the efforts on the Grid. Have you made any new allies? Any breakthroughs that could help defeat the Milgari?”

  I nodded. “As usual, I think there are a lot of politicians who have their own interests in mind over those of the Grid. We even have some that are calling for us to join with the Milgari so that the wars would end.”

  The captain sat forward in his chair. “Complacency seems to be a common theme that builds just before the next attack. The Milga
ri do not add other species to their empire. They enslave or eliminate. They have no interest in any other arrangements. My people, those who survived, and excluding the few drafted into their military, are nothing more than miners and factory workers, forced to harvest resources or build ships for the Milgari.”

  The captain continued, “They are merciless butchers. My wife and oldest son were killed in the initial raids, and my youngest son, Davin, is believed to be working in an ore mine... if he is alive at all. We only have a handful of ships at our disposal, and most of our time is spent running from the enemy. There is a large resistance out there, with many subjugated species involved, but our numbers pale in comparison to those of the Milgari, by a factor of thirty to one.”

  The captain again scratched his chin. “I am curious as to how Bartel came to be in your employ. We have managed only one turn of a captured Merfet agent since the Milgari took our planet. What brought him to his senses? Was he somehow wronged by his handlers?”

  I told the captain what I knew about Frig, about how I had never suspected, and would never have suspected, that he was a spy for the enemy. I could only guess that his experience with Humans, in particular his experience with me, had somehow convinced him we were not the animals the Milgari had led him to believe. I told him how my offer of a partnership was the final piece of the puzzle he needed, and how he had seen the truth. He had come to his current conclusions on his own.

  The remainder of the day was spent in discussions with the Gambit captain. I promised him I would relay his pleas for assistance to those on the Grid who could possibly help. We were on the same side in the war, and those who took up arms against the Milgari were our allies. Our fight was a good fight.

  Frig returned with news of the data from the crystal. “Sir, the data contains the names of nearly three hundred individuals on the Grid who are spying for the Milgari. Myself, the Gambit who provided this information, and the other five Gambits on the station are all listed in detail. I can only guess that whoever gathered this information used it to force that Gambit to come to you. There are some dangerous games being played on the Grid, sir, dangerous to us all.”

  The captain made a copy of the data on the crystal before placing it in my hand. “Take this to whomever you trust with it. This is Grid information. I'm not sure how our contact there was able to get this, but I'm sure you can make use of it. If you find out who that agent is, take care to assist them in any way you can. Our eyes and ears are all that’s keeping us alive.”

  I thanked the captain for his trust and his efforts. I would do what I could to further his cause—our cause. Frig said his goodbyes and we boarded the Swift.

  “I should be fighting with them, sir. Those are the people who are willing to risk everything for our freedom, a freedom that I have worked tirelessly against for the last decade. I'm not sure what value I can be to the cause on my own.”

  As I pushed the throttle to full, I turned to my best friend. “Bartel, you are resourceful, skilled at everything you take on. You have saved our butts repeatedly. The best place for you to be right now is right where you are. We're taking this information to the admiral, and we'll continue this fight on our terms. The contributions you can make from that seat where you are sitting are far more valuable to this fight than anything you could do back there on that cruiser. Besides, where would I find another partner dumb enough to sign on with me?”